Stacy Keach on Alexander Payne as an Actors’ Director

I was stoked to talk with cast member Stacy Keach on the red carpet for Nebraska. The film premiered at the AFI Film Fest this week and explores a father and son who set out on a road trip to claim a sweepstakes prize.  Director Alexander Payne and stars Will Forte and Bruce Dern who play David and Woody Grant, accompanied Keach at the Chinese Theater.

I couldn’t help but ask about Keach’s experience with the stage. I had to know how he tones down his acting from roles like King Lear for something on screen. He plays Ed Pegram in the film. “The emotions that exist in Nebraska are, in some ways, just as large as they are in those great tragic roles of Shakespeare. Not necessarily in my character but I think that the over all feeling of this film-there’s a nostalgia here- family that is destroyed by the illusion and the hope of something more. There’s a feeling of entitlement that, even my character, Ed Pegram… if Woody has a million bucks, I want my share.”

Keach has worked with legendary directors in his career. I inquired what Payne taught him about acting. “He’s a great actors’ director in the sense that he allows the actor to express himself in his or her terms. And then he says, ‘Ok we’ve got it that way, let’s try something new.’ He challenges us to stimulate our imaginations in different ways, in different directions. That’s always great. A lot of directors they say, ‘Ok great. I’ve got it, that’s fine let’s move on.’ That’s ok if what they got was good. I like the idea of being able to try something new and different. “

“There’s a moment in the movie that came out of that kind of adjustment. When I have Woody’s coupon and I hand it back to him Payne said, ‘Don’t just gloat over that… I’d like to see some compassion.’ There’s a moment there that never would of occurred had it not been for that kind of process that Alexander wants an actor to go through.”

Nebraska opens in theaters November 15^th!